David Luiz produced a horrific performance as Premier League football returned on Wednesday night.
The calamitous defender was initially left out of Arsenal’s starting line-up with Mikel Arteta saying that “there are a few things that happened in recent weeks” that explained why Luiz was on the bench.
However, injury to Pablo Mari in the opening 20 minutes saw Luiz enter the fray at the Etihad with the scores level at 0-0.
And it was Luiz’s mistake that allowed Raheem Sterling to open the scoring.
Then, in the second half, Luiz let Riyad Mahrez get the wrong side of him before he hauled back the City winger.
Penalty and red card.
Luiz was back down the tunnel just 24 minutes after coming on.
It got us thinking: Was Luiz’s performance the worst individual performance in Premier League history?
Not quite…
Let’s take a look at the 10 worst performances in the league’s history:
10 | Tiemoue Bakayoko vs Watford (05/02/18)
“That first 30 minutes is one of the worst performances you will see from a player this season."
Those were Jamie Carragher’s words after Bakayoko was sent off after half an hour during Chelsea’s 4-1 defeat against Watford.
The midfielder had given the ball away seven times before picking up two yellow cards.
9 | Ali Dia vs Leeds United (23/11/1996)
Dia managed to secure a place in Southampton’s squad by pretending to be George Weah's cousin. Somehow, Saints manager Graeme Souness didn’t see that he was pretty rubbish in training. But it took one substitute appearance for him to realise as he was hauled off and released two weeks later.
8 | Ade Akinbiyi vs Liverpool (20/10/2001)
Leicester’s £5 million signing Akinbiyi missed three absolute sitters against Liverpool as fans failed to hide their anger towards him.
He wasn’t helped that Robbie Fowler grabbed a hat-trick for the visitors in the same game.
Akinbiyi’s Leicester career never fully recovered.
7 | Massimo Taibi vs Chelsea (03/10/1999)
Everyone remembers Taibi’s terrible mistake against Southampton, allowing Matt Le Tissier’s shot squirm through his legs. Well, the following week, he made another howler 27 seconds in the clash against Chelsea. He was beaten another four times as United lost 5-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Taibi made four more appearances before being sold.
6 | Jamie Carragher vs Manchester United (11/09/99)
Scoring an own goal against your biggest rivals is embarrassing. Scoring two own goals against your biggest rivals is, well, even more embarrassing. That’s what a 21-year-old Carragher did against United during a 3-2 loss at Anfield.
He recovered pretty well from it though.
5 | Carl Jenkinson vs Bournemouth (22/08/15)
During his first loan spell away from Arsenal, Jenkinson produced an awful performance for West Ham during a 4-3 defeat to Bournemouth.
In fact, before Luiz’s shocker against Manchester City on Wednesday, Jenkinson was the last player to be sent off, concede a penalty and commit an error leading to an opposition goal in a Premier League match.
4 | David Luiz vs Manchester City (17/06/20)
What can we say that hasn’t been said?
A calamitous error leading to City’s opener and then he got himself sent off for fouling Riyad Mahrez in the penalty area.
Good effort in just the 24 minutes he was on the pitch.
3 | Emmanuel Eboue vs Wigan Athletic (06/12/08)
Eboue wasn’t exactly a fan favourite amongst Gooners before coming on against Wigan in 2008. And after his wretched substitute appearances where he gave the ball away almost every time he got it, there was no way back.
He was subbed off to a chorus of boos and appeared visibly distraught.
2 | Steven Gerrard vs Manchester United (22/03/15)
Gerrard was upset at being named on the bench for his last ever match against Manchester United.
But when he was brought on at half-time, he was just a little bit too pumped up. He smashed into Ander Herrera with a strong tackle before deciding to stamp on the Spaniard.
He was off after just 38 seconds.
1 | Jonathan Walters vs Chelsea (13/01/13)
Of course.
Like Carragher, Walters scored two own goals. But he trumped the former Liverpool defender by also missing a late penalty.
A pretty bad day at the office.